


Why we do what we do

by HiDiNgFrOmYoU



Category: Fullmetal Alchemist - All Media Types, Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood & Manga
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Ed needs a hug, Ed never left the military, Ed still has his automail arm, Ed's language, Feelings, First FMA fic, Getting Together, Is this underage? I guess techinically?, M/M, Pre-Slash, Roy gives Ed his hug, What is the age of consent in Amestris??, Working title, m/m - Freeform
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-06-19
Updated: 2017-06-19
Packaged: 2018-11-16 03:52:26
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Underage
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,019
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11245749
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/HiDiNgFrOmYoU/pseuds/HiDiNgFrOmYoU
Summary: This is basically shmoop. Like there's hardly a plot and I just wanted to write a cute getting together fic. I'll update it will plot and lemons if people show interest. I basically needed a break from my other fic haha.Ed calls Roy in the middle of the night, needing his help.





	Why we do what we do

**Author's Note:**

> I do not own these characters nor their universe nor their plot lines.
> 
> Hiya, this is my first FMA fic but I've adored FMA since the first anime came out 14 years ago. If enough people like this I'll either write a sequel or update this. I didn't exactly follow the post canon because obviously Ed isn't married to Winry. Not that I don't adore Winry I just love Roy and Ed together much more haha.
> 
> no beta
> 
> Hope y'all like it.

The Great Fullmetal Alchemist Edward Elric did not understand his own mind at the moment, nor did he comprehend how he had wound up where he was.

"Your coffee is getting cold Fullmetal."

Ed jumped so badly at the random observation, his fragile grip on the cup turned into a vice in an instant. The frail Xingese cup cracked under the pressure of his auto mail hand and shattered, causing a litany of curses to fall from the young blond's slightly blue tinged lips.

"Dammit, fucking hell. Sorry. I'll fix it, shit."

With a clap of his hands the cup was back into pristine condition, but the coffee was still running in rivulets out from the dark brown pool it had created on the white lacquered wood of the round kitchen table.

“Calm down Fullmetal, we have rags for that,” the dark timber of the man sitting across from Ed. Brigadier General Roy Mustang, the famed Flame Alchemist. Promoted after the events of the promised day and one step closer to his goal of being Fuhrer. He handed the shivering and now even more disheveled sixteen year old a royal blue terry cloth rag from the oven’s handle. His little kitchen was filled with the light of modest chandelier hanging above, the pale blue walls and white trim presented a well put together image along with the white wooden four seater table in the breakfast nook of Roy Mustang’s kitchen. White cabinets and butcher block counters made the space feel cottagey regardless of house actually being an end terrace unit on the block of upper middle class houses Roy lived in.

Ed took the towel and mopped up his mess before the coffee could spill unto the natural birch hardwood floors. He breathed in deeply to prevent his flesh hand from shaking anymore. He was finally getting feeling back into his stumps where his automail met them. “You feeling warmer?” Mustang asked him, standing from his seat and coming around the table with another terry cloth towel. He nudged Ed and his now sodden towel out of the way gently before scrubbing up the remainder of the coffee. “Are you going to tell me why you were out in that blizzard now? You were too frost bit to do more than shiver when I picked you up at the train station.”

Ed turned to look at his CO with a nerve of anger rattling in his body…’so he’d had to call Mustang for help…the man didn’t need to pry’ Ed thought to himself. He knew though, he wouldn’t be able to get out of at least telling Mustang some of what was wrong.

“Look, I just…Al is back in Resembool visiting Winery and I went for a walk…look it doesn’t fucking matter Mustang,” Ed muttered aggressively and quite obvious in his evasion, uselessly trying to deflect. How could he tell the bastard Brigadier General the reason he was wandering aimlessly around central was because he had locked himself out of his barracks all the while locking his coat, keys, wallet, and pocket watch inside. How could he tell the bastard Brigadier General that the damn private at the watch desk either A) didn’t recognize him and wouldn’t give him a spare key or B) wouldn’t give him a spare key because he hated Ed and Ed’s life; when Ed tried to transmute a door into his barracks (he’d avoided doing it before because the last time he’d done that, the head of the housing department had fined him a stupid amount of money and Roy himself had “lectured him”, which actually meant laughing at him for ten minutes) the private then bodily removed him from the barracks and threatened to call the MPs, yelling about how he didn’t know how some snot-nosed bratling got in there but he wasn’t about to lose his job over it.

Absolutely frustrated and not giving enough fucks to stay there and rip the lowly private a new one, Ed had stormed out. He had resigned himself to wandering aimlessly until morning when he could sic Hawkeye or Hughes, hell even Mustang if he played his cards right, on the stupid idiot. He had at least thought to transmute his sleep shirts (yes, plural two tank tops) into a somewhat thicker sweatshirt. And, to his defense, the storm hadn’t picked up until he’d been out in the cold for half an hour.

It’s not as if getting locked out was even the beginning of his problem. But Ed wasn’t willing to admit any of that aloud just yet. He didn’t want to ever admit to Mustang just why he’d been locked out in just his boots and his bed clothes.

“It’s -6 degrees Celsius outside Edward, and it’s sleeting! We both know that’s a crock of shit, so tell me the real reason. And after that I’m putting you in a hot shower, you’re still frozen to the bone, even with dry clothes!” Roy’s patience finally snapped, but his concern was evident, even going as far as to address Fullmetal as Edward. He had been roused from his sleep by his phone ringing at 12:12am. Fullmetal’s shivering voice had come across the wire and he hadn’t even asked for an explanation other than demanding “Where are you…stay there I’ll be there in five minutes.”

He had rushed out of bed in only a sweat suit and his overcoat, though he had the forethought to grab another overcoat and a pair of gloves for the shivering teen as he had fumbled for his keys and wallet. He had been in such a shock that Edward would even think to call him in a time of need that Roy hadn’t even tried to wrestle an explanation from the teen until now, thirty minutes after the ‘rescue’ and after getting two cups of coffee into Ed the blonde had fallen mostly silent. Ed had been resigned and mostly silent, murmuring “thank you” at random moments and occasionally refusing things, such as sitting by a fire Roy had offered to ignite or a warm meal, that refusal had shocked Roy a little more than anything else; the teen was a black hole for food.

Roy was thoroughly perplexed as to what had happened and why Ed was acting so quiet versus his normal, raging self. He had given Ed enough time, in his opinion, to thaw and start explaining.

“Bastard! I don’t wanna get into it!”

“Well I went a saved your ass from frostbite, so you owe me more than a lame excuse of wanting a walk in this blasted weather,” Mustang sneered, not allowing himself to raise his voice again. Ed still had a shaken look to him, one that was not at all Ed. Mustang didn’t like it.

Ed let out a frustrated scream and then yelled, “So I don’t wanna fucking tell you I fucking got locked out of my fucking dorm because some boot-ass private didn’t know me and kicked me out after I locked my damn keys in my room and I can’t fucking transmute a door because the fucker threatened to call the MP’s and you would have chewed my ass out along with the stupid dorm supervisor, even if I fucking fix the fucking wall back every damn time! I didn’t even have my wallet with me! I couldn’t just go to a hotel! So I had to fucking call you goddamn collect!” Ed’s face was flushed with either embarrassment or anger, or both. He was trembling, but at least, Roy noted, his lips were no longer tinged blue with cold. “I…just…just fucking let me live this down, ok? You’re the only one I could think to call, you fucking jackass.”

Roy blinked at Ed owlishly for a moment, the teenager looked so much younger than he ever had; his walls were broken into. He’d had to ask for help and it killed him. Roy did the only thing he could thing to do and put an arm around Ed, hugging him loosely.

What utterly surprised Roy, was that Ed did not rip himself away from Roy with a scream and a punch. Ed clutched at him with both of his arms, and burrowed himself against Roy. It was then that Roy felt how truly cold Ed was. His right side where his automail met his shoulder was frozen; he likely had some degree frostbite. Roy could only imagine the state of Ed’s left leg.

Roy reciprocated the deeper hug and ran his hands up and down Ed’s back, trying to share his warmth.

“C’mon Edward, let’s get you in a hot bath. You need to thaw your limbs before you get actually get frostbite,” Roy said gently after a few minutes of holding Ed. Ed hadn’t started crying, nor had he pulled away in those two and a half minutes. He just stood there, clutching Roy around the middle as if he’s disappear.

Ed disentangled himself from Roy and nodded.

“Yeah…not a bad fucking idea,” Ed muttered. Ed had to collect himself, a bath would offer him that opportunity. He’d clung to Mustang so readily! ‘I can’t get so touchy feely; I can’t let him know he’s the reason I got locked out of my damn room…’

Roy led Edward up the stairs to a clean cut, simple white and blue tiled bathroom. There were white hexagon tiles on the floor, which led up the wall till they met a border of royal blue rectangular tiles up to Roy’s shoulder. The wall above that was painted white and the pedestal sink was white porcelain along with the claw foot tub and toilet. The storage cupboard built into the wall was painted royal blue and the stain glass window had blue flowers in the design. Roy’s favorite colour was now not hard to guess for Ed. Roy showed Ed where to find everything and then exited the room, promising to bring him clothes to sleep in.

Ed took a deep calming breath and started running a hot bath, all the while talking to himself to calm himself. He pretty much was just riling himself back up, but the monologue began with good intentions:

“Just breathe Ed, he’ll put you up on the couch tonight and take you back tomorrow and probably make fun of you for weeks and then he’ll never think of it again. He doesn’t realize you have a giant fucking crush on him. He doesn’t realize you were bumbling around like a fucking moron because you’d just came like the fucking teenager you are after a wet dream about Brigader General Bastard! Jeeeeez…and just how many soaps does this guy have?”

What Ed didn’t know, was that as he was trying to decide between either Sandalwood or Juniper the aforementioned Brigadier General Bastard was accidentally-on purpose listening in. He hadn’t meant to overhear Ed. He’s been dropping off a pair of cut off sweat pants (likely the only thing he owned that would fit Ed’s legs) and a too-tight-for-him long-sleeve tee-shirt that would still likely be a size too big for Ed, though one could never know with the now very well built FullMetal Alchemist. It was hard not to notice how much affect years of training and fighting had affected Ed’s physique. And overhearing Ed’s rant made just that image pop into the forefront of Roy’s mind.

Roy backed off slowly, waiting for the boy, and he reminded himself viscerally that Edward was only sixteen, to finish his bath.

Roy retreated downstairs and did ignite a fire then, his traitorous thoughts turning to a place he had thought he’d locked tightly away. ‘He _is_ sixteen you know, the legal age in Amestris is 15 for consent.’

“Shut up,” Roy mumbled to himself unhelpfully as he sunk onto his black leather couch. He leaned over himself and put his head in his hands.

‘You’ve wanted him for months now,’ His internal voice continued to needle him.

‘Just because I find him physically attractive doesn’t mean I’d do anything’ Roy shot back at his own mind, ‘Who wouldn’t be attracted to a mind like his.’

‘Or a body?’ His mind added rather unhelpfully. ‘And after what you just overheard…can you really forget all about it?’

“Umm…thank you, For the clothes,” Edward’s quieter than normal voice broke him out of his mental argument.

Roy looked up immediately, “Of course, I’m sorry they don’t fit.”

Edward just looked at him and shrugged, “That ain’t a height comment is it?” He baited.

Roy actually laughed heartily at that. “No Ed, no height comments.” Though if he or Ed were in any better state of mind he’d actually poke fun at the fact that what was knee length on himself almost reached Ed’s ankles. And the shirt looked more like a dress, coming down underneath Ed’s rump. “Come and sit.”

Ed just nodded, and shuffled over. He sat on the opposite end of the tufted leather couch from Roy.

“Edward,” Roy started, deliberately talking to the young man in front of him and not using his military call name. “Do you need to tell me anything else? Has this private…done anything else to you? Disrespected you in any other ways?’

“Wha- no…no he’s just an idiot. He’s new and doesn’t know his job. My fucking picture is in the log book,” Ed groused. “I mean he didn’t hurt me when he threw me out or nothin’.”

“Wait he actually _threw you_ ,” Mustang’s ire was palpable in the air and made Ed shiver.

“Well yeah, I wasn’t gonna just go quietly now was I?” Ed said trying to play it off. “Ain’t like he hurt me.”

“He assaulted a superior officer,” Roy reminded him coldly.

“What do you care? I ain’t hurt. And I don’t need to press charges if he just fucking admit he was wrong and gets punished. He was an idiot, not a traitor Mustang,” Ed pointed out logically. “Though if you put him on latrine duty for a few months I’d be happy.”

Roy simmered down at that, realized that his protectiveness was showing. “You’re better than most in your position. Sometimes I think you forget you’re a major in the military.”

“Keh, its an honorary title isn’t it?”

“You earned it Ed, passing the exam earned it for you,” Roy reminded him. “It doesn’t matter anyway. Why do you still stay in the barracks? You could easily afford an apartment or a house?”

“That I’d be in for maybe three months a year?”

“Ed, you repaired your brother...the war is over…you don’t have to leave off all the time.”

“And do what? Stay here and work in a government lab?” Ed countered, “Work for you in your office all the time?”

Roy signed, they’d had this argument more times than he could count. “Then why did you stay in the military after the promised day Ed? Why not go back to Resembool?”

Ed huffed something that sounded like, “You don’t get it.”

“Don’t get what Ed?”

“You don’t get it you fucking idiot! I don’t wanna be away from you!”

Utter silence followed. Ed was too shocked by his own admission to move or say anything else. He flinched harshly when Roy stood however. Roy frowned deeply at that and knelt in front of Ed. Ed closed his eyes tightly and his automail right arm came up in a mock defense.

“Edward Elric I will not strike you,” Roy said calmly, using a calmness in his voice his mind didn’t feel. When Ed didn’t open his eyes nor lower his arm Roy gently took it in his own hand. He laced their fingers. “Ed I’m not angry at you.”

“No? What you pity me then Mr. Womanizer?” Ed mumbled, without opening his eyes, he gripped Roy’s hand mindlessly though.

“Ed, you should know that’s just a spy network by now,” Roy responded. “Now look at me Ed.”

Edward finally opened his golden eyes, the firelight reflected in them vividly.

“I’m not angry you said what you said,” Roy told him, locking their eyes together. “And I understand now. You don’t ever have to leave my command Edward. I’d be honored to keep you around…and if you…if you meant something else, I’m not offended by that either. I’m flattered.”

“You’re…what?”

“Believe it or not Ed I’m not a staunch womanizer. I find you…enthralling.”

“You’re pulling my leg Mustang…you have to be…you can’t fucking say shit like that and not mean it!” Ed suddenly screamed, his eyes shining.

Roy huffed in response and drew close to him, close enough to kiss but not daring to make the complete first move. Ed was young after all, and his subordinate.

“You…you fucking mean it?”

“Of course I do, I wouldn’t put myself in this position if I didn’t.”

Ed launched forward just about before Roy had finished his sentence and claimed his lips in their first kiss. It was awkward and messy and just plainly them. Roy kept himself stable and pulled Ed into his lap on the floor as they continued the kiss. Ed’s flesh hand, still cold to the touch, gingerly touched Roy’s cheek. Roy took that as invitation to thread the hand not supporting them into Ed’s hair for better leverage on the kiss. Roy’s tongue had invaded Ed’s mouth by this point and was tasting every last bit of the blond. He tasted the coffee and the bitter tang of soap that Ed must’ve used instead of using the mouthwash sitting on his sink.

They broke apart finally with Ed taking quick breaths. Apparently he didn’t realize he could breathe through his nose, or maybe the cold had stuffed it up?

“Edward…if we do this…you have to realize that very few people can know. I’m your direct commanding officer.”

“Duh, didn’t they teach you discretion Brigadier General,” Edward said, poking fun.

Roy just laughed at that and went in for another kiss.

-x-

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 


End file.
